Tuesday, April 18, 2017

The title of this edition of The Magpie Mason derives from Psalm 36, and it is the motto of Columbia University, the elder of the two Ivy League institutions located in New York State. Columbia is in the Masonic news today thanks to the effort being undertaken to establish a Masonic lodge with a relationship to the university. I told you about Illumination Lodge last month, and now Grand Lodge’s Fraternity on Campus Committee is seeking brethren to create Morningside Alma Mater Lodge 1754.Morningside Heights is the area of Manhattan where the university is located, and 1754 is the year when the institution was founded as King’s College. Bro. Misha from Old No. 2 is leading this effort. From the publicity:Some of you may be aware that, at our last Grand Lodge session, a motion was passed to lower the admission age to 18. Since then, the Grand Master has formed the Fraternity on Campus Committee, which was tasked with establishing lodges to be dedicated to serving institutions of higher learning in New York State, identifying young men who are interested in Freemasonry, and facilitating a safe environment for them to learn and grow beyond the university setting. After months of meetings and planning, the committee has approved moving forward with the petition to establish a lodge serving the Columbia University community, comprising students, alumni, faculty, and staff of Columbia’s degree-granting faculties.This is a call to all brothers who wish to support this historic initiative as founding members of this lodge, which will be named Morningside Alma Mater Lodge. It is also a call for members of the Craft in New York and beyond to propose eligible men to be considered for admission into Morningside Alma Mater.Please make your interest in joining and/or your ideas about possible new petitioners by email here.

I don’t know if anyone on the 17th floor reads this website,
but I am free to organize a group to work on Perstare et Praestare Lodge 1831. Or maybe Washington Square Lodge 1831.

I love being part of a Grand Lodge that makes Freemasonry so significant in so many ways!

11 comments:

As an alumnus of Columbia (CC 1974), I'm greatly interested in this scheme and Lodge and have emailed them to signify my interest, even at my great distance from New York City. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

I have gotten a response from the originator of the Morningside Alma Mater Lodge proposal, and while GLNY rules may prohibit me from being a founder/charter member, as I am an officer in my Mother Lodge, I believe I can still be a member, although at a distance.